Face Tim and Doors

Hey creative people.

So I want to do a scene where my characters are face timing and instead of switching from one char to the next I want both on the screen but in their own backgrounds so we can see them at the same time. Any suggestions? Also any suggestions on how I open the doors in the episodes or close them? Someone told me I would have to do an overlay and that it’s really tricky

Moved to Directing Help & Tips as that’s where scripting questions live! :v:t2:

Hi.
Do you mean over he shoulder shot?
When one is rear and the other front and then they switch places?
There are several tutorial for that, Joseph Evans being the most known

Opening doors is best done with overlay’s as that makes it possible for the character to enter/exit as well by going from/behind the overlay. But if you only need an open door then you can do that with a small change to the background, if you find that easier.

<3

There are many ways for the FaceTime thing: You could use an overlay which shows one screen above and one below and have the characters stand behind the overlay, so that you only see each of their faces.

You can do the same thing with only a background which looks like two backgrounds if you do not yet feel comfortable using overlays. But then you would have to use the phone animations to make it look better because there won’t be a screen.

Same goes for the door: Either use a background with an opened door and one with a closed one and switch scenes. Or use overlays. I am personally a big fan of using overlays because it gives you more to play with and makes most of the things look better.

If you want to close a door as an overlay I would place the opened door overlay and the closed door overlay at the right spots, then set the one you do not want visible to opacity 0% in 0 first. When the door closes you switch the opacity:

INT. BACKGROUND - DAY with OPENDOOR to size X Y in zone n at layer n with CLOSEDDOOR to size X Y in zone n at layer n
&overlay CLOSEDDOOR opacity 0% in 0
###HERE your scene happens ###
&overlay CLOSEDDOOR opacity 100% in 0 AND overlay OPENDOOR opacity 0% in 0
###HERE something happens while the door closes###

(If you are looking for more directing tips you can look on Instagram for #arrowsdirectingtips to find my posting.)

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I’m going to have to follow you lol. Because I’m a beginner and just reading that confused me.

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Hi!

So in order to do a split scene FaceTime, you’ll have to find a background that has a split scene. Now if you have specific background you need in the image then I suggest creating a split scene background yourself by taking two of the Episode backgrounds and cropping them and then putting them together with a editing app/computer program. You can also ask someone to create it for you. You’ll find many talented artists in the Resources thread.


For the door opening, an overlay would be okay, but what most authors do is use an identical background and just edit on an open door. Then they just switch backgrounds in the middle of a scene. That gives the illusion of a door opening and is easier than applying an overlay. You can create that yourself, find one already made or again, ask an artist on the forum to help you out.

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Oh, sorry. Wasn’t meant to be confusing xD Can I help?

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Sure! After my couples retreat I’ll message you! :heart::heart: Thank you so much!

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Ohhh. Thank you!

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Closing due to one month of inactivity :slight_smile:

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